2014 Directed by Nick Szostakiwskyj
A group of archaeologists uncover a strange structure in Northern Canada, dating over ten thousand years before the present. The team finds themselves isolated when their communication systems fail and it's not long before they begin to feel the effects of the solitude.
Okay so immediately after I finished watching this, I then stepped outside into the night to smoke a cigarette. I live in a place where there is basically near wilderness behind my house and it is very dark. After a minute standing there I hear a stomping of hooves from my immediate left. A deer must have been hanging out, stood frozen so I didn't notice, and then decided to bolt his shit right past me, like 6 feet away from me, taking me my complete surprise.
Now if you have not seen this film that story won't seem particularly noteworthy but if you have, you will know what a fucking freaky and amazing coincidence this was.
Unrated - 1 Hour 39 Minutes
Mystery - Thriller - Horror - Fantasy - Dark
Directed by Nick Szostakiwskyj
Starring Shane Twerdun, Michael Dickson, Carl Toftfelt
Archaeologists have made the discovery of a lifetime when they uncovered a strange structure that is believed to be thousands of years old. The team begins to lose ties to the outside world one by one, compounding the effects of complete and utter isolation in an unforgiving frozen wilderness!
Nick Szostakiwskyj direction, pacing and striptease-esque reveal of the naughty bits that we horror mongers are just aching to wave our crisp dollar bills in the air for, hoping for a lingering glimpse, a clue so fetching we can barely contain ourselves! But ohhhhhhhhhh what…
Would likely be a hard sell to many people (too grim) but this would make a very effectively downbeat double-bill with Hold the Dark, albeit one that highlights the other film's approach of not trying to share too many of its secrets, as this walks into the awkward grey zone between trying to show a little more than the budget will effectively allow---there's a dearth of quality icebound horror though, and this packs more of a punch than some, right down to the black joke of an ending. Some people probably will hate it, but it worked for me.
Sweet, sweet ambiguity, how I enjoy you.
Nick Szostakiwskyj's first film has hooked me in. I am very interested in how he chose to write this story. I like to guess at his inspirations, but you never do truly know. I sensed John Carpenter's 'The Thing', Stephen King's 'The Shining', and some H.P. Lovecraft. My trifecta of fear.
Isn't snow the most wonderful backdrop for horror? Nature in and of itself is oppressive and capable of killing you if you act the least bit foolish. So much of history has instances of being trapped with the most grisly of endings. The paranoia, claustrophobia, hunger, thirst, and cold will do you in.
Humans need to explore. It's an instinct like sleeping.…
There's something so satisfying about a movie that says to the viewer: "I'm not laying out an explanation, decide for yourself." Along with an undertone of: "This is life, it sucks and then you die."
Superb chiller.
The Thing ripoff.
Even the poster is the same.
Nonetheless, very good. It mixes together Cthulhu with the idea behind the tv show Fortitude.
Would likely be a hard sell to many people (too grim) but this would make a very effectively downbeat double-bill with Hold the Dark, albeit one that highlights the other film's approach of not trying to share too many of its secrets, as this walks into the awkward grey zone between trying to show a little more than the budget will effectively allow---there's a dearth of quality icebound horror though, and this packs more of a punch than some, right down to the black joke of an ending. Some people probably will hate it, but it worked for me.
recently listened to a podcast about the Clovis people so when they mentioned them in the first few minutes, I felt soooo cool and smart.
Less is definitely more with this one. Crushing atmosphere and the horror of things we want to understand but can’t. Pretty unsettling.
It’s lower budget but well executed. Some of the acting isn’t great, but the rest makes up for it.
My eyes were glued to the screen the entire time. Like I’m pretty sure I only looked away once or twice when my phone vibrated and it startled me.
You will never be more keenly aware of how precious time is than when you watch this two hour pit of regret
I like a lot of the ingredients here, the snowbound setting maybe most of all — it’s absolutely My Shit as a backdrop for isolation & creeping horror, plus it paves the way for a lot of great “log cabin creaking & groaning in a windstorm” sound FX, which I’m always up for.
But partway through the movie it becomes clear that some of what seemed like a slow burn is actually a near-total disinterest in characterization. That can be fine in the right sort of gorefest and/or slasher: most of the hapless victims in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, for one, are interchangeable ciphers. It absolutely doesn’t work when the goal is mounting interpersonal tension and dread, though.
So once the movie reaches…
The very last scene of this film had me yell out a bunch of NO!!'s and HOLY SHIT's.
This is a low budget horror drama that I'd like to consider an unofficial and less gory version of Carpenter's remake of The Thing. This is both good and bad. The acting and dialogue in this film is very engaging and natural and I really enjoyed it.
However - it is a little sad just how much this movie just repeats The Thing with some minor alterations. It borders on plagarism territory at times and that is sad because to me it makes Black Mountain Side kinda lose a bit of its own identity. The best way I can describe it is…
Rocky LaForge 18,926 films
As it reads on the tin.
toshio 3,335 films
Watchlist of movies that only you and your best friends might appreciate. Suggestion: Use www.random.org to draw which ones to…
